Songs and Souls
by Remora .Hack
Summary: (PG-13 for sheer violence.) A New Evil. LoKCP crossover. Please at least take a look! (Also bad, ugly, evil language, lol. Also a romance midway through, when I have a chance to write.)
1. Raziel's Boredom

R .H here! New story (but don't worry, STSBTN will continue!). R+R! flames will be eaten by an enraged Kain. Disclaimer: I own no one but Remora .Hack, my namesake. (but if anyone is selling, I will be asking for the buying.) Sue and I'll cry.  
  
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(--Songs and Souls--) (--Chapter 1, Prologue--) (--7 years after the events of SR2--) (--Raziel--)  
  
Kain's rushed warning had been taken to heart, barely heard it might have been. The look on his face had been all Raziel needed to believe him. Janos Aurdron's heart remained where it was, at the heart of the Sarafan fortress.  
  
Raziel, betrayed betrayer.  
  
Raziel, Kain's folly.  
  
Raziel, blade's mannequin.  
  
Raziel, Thrice born.  
  
Raziel, the angel of death.  
  
Raziel leaped from the towering Pillars of Nosgoth upon the unsuspecting group of Sarafan, landing upon the first and ripping the head from the body along with a length of spinal cord and around six pints of bodily fluids. As the other scouts turned, the ex-lieutenant picked up the fallen warrior's spear and neatly threw it through a Halberdier's chest, blood flying from the gaping wound in the ribcage. That left merely two. The remaining warriors gaped, not quite sure what exactly to make of the attack.  
  
A sharp burst of pure unadulterated force sent the gunner flying into a sharp spike of rock, his face ripped apart by the sudden penetration of three tons of stone via the back of the skull. The remaining swordsman had fled, flinging aside his weapon as he made due haste away from the blue demon.  
  
Raziel paused a moment to replenish his spectral energy. He'd heeded Kain's wishes, but that didn't stop him from ripping the Sarafan to bloody shreds out of frustration. He'd made the pillars his temporary residence as he waited for the Ruined era to roll around. He'd given up using the time chambers, as he couldn't work the damn things and Moebius wasn't kind enough to leave his copy of Time Streaming for Dummies lying around. He sighed. Ariel wasn't fun to talk to, but at least she wasn't trying to kill him. Kain hadn't shown his ugly mug for some time, and he'd heard of nothing from Moebius. In short, Raziel was bored. 


	2. A Father's Theory

~*Yes I know the artist has named a character after herself, but actually it's the other way around. I had Remora way before I had her name. Lol*~  
  
(--Ch2, A Father's Theory--) (--Year 3040--) (--Remora *Hack--) ____________________________________________________________________________ _______  
  
Remora had fallen to sleep with her headphones on again, her mixer playing the same baseline over and over. She was slumped over the desk, one hand around a Kinetic Cola and the other clutching a pencil. She hadn't changed out of her street clothes, and seemed about to slump off her stool any moment.  
  
She is the first and foremost Government-opposing *Hack in all of New Tokyo. There wasn't an "elite" to be found for miles, and she had the entire run of Chofu/Fuchu/Mitaka/Koganei square. The entire run. There wasn't a Beater, a Dancer, a Rapper, or a Scripter that could -or would- challenge her, not a Seller that could speed-talk her out of business. The world was in order. Music was nearly nonexistent, books were regulated by the government and no household owned more than one, dancing was illegal, and there were no malls anywhere to be found.  
  
Welcome to 3040, a Government-owned planet where everything anyone does is videotaped, recorded, or -at least- watched. No privacy exists anywhere, and people are 'happy'. There is no crime, there are no jobs, for money has been done away with. All work is done by automated machines, and the Government and the Clergy tell you it works. It doesn't. The hackers knew this, and the hackers didn't like it. Believe you this, if the hackers didn't like something in a world of automatons, they would eventually get it changed. Enter alarm clock in.  
  
5. 4. 3. 2. 1. #BRIIIIING!!!#  
  
Remora *Hack woke from her precarious position upon the stool, and slid off. Her half-empty soda can came away from the s.t.i.c.k.y. desk with a loud slurping noise, dousing the 19-year old girl in carbonated sugar. She yelled in surprise, her headphone's volume control having struck the desk and turned the sound all the way up. As she yanked them off and slammed them on the desk, she discovered the page-and-a-half of soda-ruined song sheet.  
  
"Aww.. Man."  
  
She was late for school, but it didn't matter anymore. Her dad supported the hackers, because he enjoyed being able to use an imagination once in a while. She slapped a InvisiSkin patch (to cover those unsightly blemishes, use InvisiSkin!) over her left forearm's *Hack tattoo, the only way to recognize another hacker. She grabbed a few Sun-Glare torchlightes, and packed her music stuff into a backpack before setting out for the old Microsoft building. Strangely enough, though toothbrushes had gotten better, backpacks remained the same shape. Some things just didn't change, she guessed. They just got bigger. 


	3. File under ODD

Dragonseer- Thank you so much for reviewing!!!! The point of view is switchy, some being Remora's and some being Raziel's.  
  
Don't TOUCH this, wheaty/mcfly/tom/crow/whoever. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- (--Ch.3, File under O.D.D.--) (--Remora *Hack--)  
  
Remora always walked. No one in New Tokyo owned cars, merely calling a cab to get from place to place. Drivers were automated to reduce crashes, and the Hackers knew how often hardware went haywire. She looked an odd sight, walking down the street with her purple/green striped hair and her Hi-Wattz headphones reducing her eardrums to quivering jelly, wearing a bright pink tank-top and black pants three sizes too big for her, held up with suspenders. One would note that when the girl walked, it was as if it wasn't enough to get from A to B. she had to make odd, arrhythmic steps that weren't quite Illegal Dancing, but weren't exactly walking, either. They couldn't have realized she was listening to unlawful Re-Mixed old video game music. (It'sa me! Mario!!!)  
  
When Remora reached the old Microsoft Manufacturing plant, she stripped off her Invisiskin. Wincing as the patch pulled epidermis, she flashed the tattoo at the camera.  
  
"Remora *Hack, elite hacker. Password: IsAFreak. Lemme in, TooTired. You really need to change the password. It was funny for only like... one minute."  
  
The door opened and a young boy's face peered around the corner. It was TooTired, Remora's kid "brother." He yawned and revealed filed teeth, the kind Remora always shivered when looking at. She couldn't figure why he did it.  
  
"I know, Remora, but I can't remember how and I just love hearing you say it."  
  
"Remind me to punch you."  
  
Remora stalked off down the corridor, leaving the apprentice hacker to his door duties. She was greeted by many, bumped by a few who didn't know her, and finally turned into Sparks's room. Sparks made things, hence his title "Lemming." He was useful, but sometimes his ungodly wheelchair blocked doorways. He was always tinkering with something. Though he had no arms or legs, it didn't seem to keep him from building robotic ones. She knocked on the door.  
  
"Hey SparkstheLemming, lemme in!!!"  
  
"Who the hell is it? I done give out all my calls yet, and the net's not done!"  
  
"It's Remora! Lemme in, sparks!"  
  
She didn't normally yell, it was just that his door was three inches thick in order to keep in explosions. His "wheelchair" was blast-proof, but other people weren't. The door opened to reveal an odd arachnid of a creature. The body was an endo-plasti bubble, and inside was some odd chrysalis/pupa thing of a man. Oftentimes it reminded Remora of an egg, half filled with liquid and the embryo still developing. On the outside, however, there were eight steel legs/arms that he walked on and worked with.  
  
She'd seen those arms rip through twenty-six inches of enforcer armor, while not touching the soft fleshy men underneath. She'd also been lifted up on top of buildings, without even chafing against them. Those limbs of his were both gentle and rough, and served his every purpose. The only thing she hadn't figured out was how he ate, or where he took a shit. She had asked him once, but he only said that the wheelchair served his every need, and there was no reason to wonder why. She had been too creeped out to ask him again.  
  
"So what brings you around to my room, Remora? Don't tell me you want to borrow my brizz-saw again. I still haven't forgotten what you did to TooTired's other security cam. I had to build him a new one, you know."  
  
"He was getting just a little too inventive with it, Sparks. The last time I showed up, the cam wasn't exactly on my tattoo or my face, if you know what I mean. When I walked by I heard him say something about sonic-vision. Now you do know how 'accurate' sound-sight is, right? We use that to see around corners. We can't have a thirteen year old trying to see around clothing, now can we?"  
  
"Very true. Now just what do you want?"  
  
Sparks spoke the normal way, via the mouth. That much was obvious, but he also spoke with his wheelchair on a different, super/subsonic level. He'd altered his vocal cords to produce computer-like sounds. Every once in a while, you could get a smidgen of high-pitched static-squealing when you were around him for any length of time. Somehow he managed to talk normally to you, and screech at his machine at the same time. Just don't keep any wineglasses near him, as they tended to burst without warning.  
  
"I need a way to move, and move fast. The boys and I are headed off to an Enforcer station to just cause general havoc, and we, and by "we" I mean "they", decided I should run decoy. We wouldn't normally do something like that, but DedInDaHed got himself caught again, taking one of their satellite up-links."  
  
"What an idiot. When you find him, tell him the satellites are directly hard-wired into the capital. You can't take one without a full alert."  
  
"And now I know what to do for a decoy. Thanks, Sparks. So what about that way to run?"  
  
"Remora, you're crazy! You're nuts! You'll be made an Example-of!"  
  
"That's precisely why they'll chase me. If you don't want me to get caught, Lemming, you'll hand over a speed boot or the equivalent of an Acme rocket. If you don't have one, you'd best think of something quick."  
  
A speed boot wasn't really a set of sneakers. It was more like a pair of robotic pants that, when worn, were really heavy and uncomfortable. So impossible to move in, you needed a remote control to operate them. They also unfashionable. Though they were not exactly sneaking material, they had a button that Sparks had dubbed, 'Panic'. The panic button would give you a near-indestructible shield from the front, then send you running in whatever direction that you were facing. Oftentimes this was through a wall, hence the shield.  
  
"I gave my last pair out to DedInDaHed. It would take me a week to make another set."  
  
"I can't wait that long. Got anything else?"  
  
"No."  
  
Remora sighed, But she knew how to get what she wanted.  
  
"Fine then. I'll use my call at the station to say good-bye, and I'll ask if you got anything to break me out. Not that you will, Lemming."  
  
There was a high-pitched squeal and Sparks's body moved so fast to block the doorway that he almost stepped on Remora's feet.  
  
"well. there is something. But you can't let anyone know, got it?"  
  
"I knew you'd see things my way, Sparks." 


	4. Operation BreakOut

To Shiwolf: Thanks for reviewing! I do take constructive criticism and ideas to heart, so if you have anything to say/scream/cry, do so!  
  
To Temerid: basically anything that requires imagination is illegal. People are automatons, and basically everything is done by machines. People are told that they are happy, and they don't know any better than to say "okay." Does that clear things up?  
  
(to all) we'll see Raziel again in a few chapters. Just wait for it! BWAHAHA!. Heeheehee... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (--Chapter four: Operation BreakOut--) (--Remora *Hack--)  
  
SparkstheLemming sighed as he straightened his wheelchair. He should have known Remora would choose the "I'm in jail" card. He walked across the sprawling room to a cabinet underneath his work bench. Remora knew some of the stuff he kept in there was experimental, and most of it didn't work except in very unusual circumstances. For instance, two weeks ago there was the never-empty battery that only worked underwater. Seven months before then had been the parachute that only opened when chewed upon (it was a very weird incident, finding that one out).  
  
"Sparks, if it's something Experimental, at least tell me what's wrong with it first. I don't want a recycling oxygen tank that only works in the pacific, like last time. Would I want it, or wouldn't I?"  
  
Sparks opened the long cabinet with care and slid out a drawer. Inside were thousands upon thousands of small items, and quite a few large ones, too. Mostly they were large clumps of wires around a box, or something bubbly in a plastic tube. She could have sworn a few things turned to look at her, which was odd because supposedly no one had made perfect A. I. yet.  
  
He took an object out from beneath the mess of them and handed it to her. It looked almost like an enforcer Jump pack, the kind that they used to rocket from rooftop to rooftop. There were straps that formed an X when put on, over her shoulders and under her arms. With the half-sphere on her back, she looked questioningly at The Lemming.  
  
"So what the hell is it? We tried using the Enforcer's armor a while ago, and it didn't work, so why should it work now?"  
  
Sparks sighed again, and gave Remora a look that said, Quit Talking And I'll Tell You.  
  
"The whole thing is what I've dubbed a Time-Slow. The reason the Enforcers are so fast is because the capital worked out some way to mess with Crono- energy. The stuff of the past and the present. While you're wearing this, if you hit the switch on the left lower strap, time will slow around you for any given three hours. Each hour will be as, at most, seven hours to you and each second will be as. well, seven seconds. I think I've gotten all the bugs out, but I'm not sure. Just don't let it get hit by the Enforcer's stunner bolts, as I don't know what it might do when exposed to too much electricity."  
  
Remora looked skeptical but said thanks and went outside. Sparks always said he thought he got all the bugs out, but for some reason there was always one thing left. Very thorough, Lemming wasn't. She walked the rest of the way to Microsoft's roof. The guys would be there, and then they could start operation Breakout. The gang would be the usual group.  
  
WishIWas007, SugarAddict, LastManStandingKingOfTheHill, and ErraticAnarchy should all be there. If not, they would wait for ten minutes for the stragglers then go. She hoped they had already been to see the mechanics. They couldn't afford to not have tech on their side when fighting enforcers.  
  
Luck was on her side, and they were waiting for her. Things could get started early, it seemed. Wishiwas007 would get through the top floor window, opening the front door. Then Sugar, Lastman, and Erratic would break DedindaHed free while she ran distraction. They set out, using the rooftops as protection from Enforcer ground-based radar. Tonight would be a good night. 


	5. calling 1800NOSGOTH, paging raziel

(--chapter 5: 1-800-NOS-GOTH--) (--Remora--)  
  
They raced along the rooftops, trying to make the 4:00 AM guard shift. They still had a half an hour, but the building surfaces of the construction district were sharp and jagged, with broken glass and plastic scattered everywhere. Then they stopped.  
  
Looming in front of them was the Enforcer cellblock in the middle of this desolate wasteland of burned-out shells of buildings and half-done abandoned constructs. The whole thing looked like a gigantic plus sign from above, surrounded by wire and razor ribbon. The hackers knew for a fact that no less than sixteen enforcers patrolled the outer walls. The chain link was electric, and evil-looking rusty iron barbs stained with red- colored oil and grease protruded from it at every angle, looking as if they were pressure coated in blood and gore. The south building was the cellblock, where DedInDaHed should be. North was the barracks, where it could house hundreds of those armor-coated fleshy giants if need be. The west was the manufacturing block, where the power armor that Enforcers so loved to wear was made. To the east, the killing fields. People were stuck up on spikes, as examples to other hackers, rappers and all their 'kind'.  
  
Remora didn't have to bother with any of that though. In the center was the satellite yard, where a dish the size of a dinner plate controlled the mindless moves of each and every enforcer within a 100-mile radius. If she could disconnect the dish, she might be able to shut down the mindless men that guarded the cells until another unit was put in, allowing her teammates to enter. They would take it from there, freeing DedInDaHed and escaping while total chaos ruled. They were approaching from the south, but the horrific smell of the east block still penetrated their nostrils.  
  
Sneaking up to the barbed chain-link fence ringing the stone walls, she got as close as she could to the wires without actually touching them. The Enforcers were on top of the wall, but it was obvious they couldn't see her anyway. They never looked up or down for some reason. Maybe the armor kept them from moving their necks. Damn, this was scary. If she was caught, she might be executed... or worse, put into the enforcer armor, chipped and forced to be a mindless automaton after being strung up like a Christmas tree. DedInDaHed was low rank so he got off easy. Her, she had the entire run of a large chunk of Japan. They would not jail her, she knew. Enforcers loved examples.  
  
She had an EZ-SHOCK, which was technically illegal. It short-circuited Enforcer armor, and fried their brain chips so they just. stopped. She could her the metallic clank of the patrolling steel suits, headed away from her. She waited a good long while after they left, then put on rubber- covered steel gloves so she could grip the fence. The climb was a mere work of moments. Vaulting over the other side, she ducked back into the shadow of the wall's overhang. She was in, and she could tell she was in for a little havoc.  
  
*clank... clank... clank... sheek! Whirrrr...* "Intruder breach on south-west block corner! Full alert! Subject: hacker leader!"  
  
"SHIT!"  
  
She'd been spotted! Cursing loudly and at length, she knew no enforcer would combat a hacker without backup. She dashed, making full tilt to the center block. Her only hope was to pull the plug on the dish, and fend off the security until she got there. She was fast, and she knew it. She just had to keep running. One hundred yards... ninety... eighty... seventy...  
  
*krbzzt*  
  
"EAAAUGH!"  
  
she hit the ground tumbling. An Enforcer had gotten lucky with his weapon, leaving a red welt across her back. That was all it did though, he'd mostly missed. Getting up, she continued to sprint. What was that fizzing noise? Did it strike sparks's... thingie? No time to think, now. Fifty... forty... god, they really didn't care what they hit, did they? They shot at whatever was nearby, whether it moved or not. Apparently they hadn't very good programmers at the capital. Twenty... ten... she was close. So close. She couldn't get shot now. They couldn't fire at her for fear of hitting the dish, could they? Five yards... she leapt, knowing the plug would be round the back.  
  
*clang*  
  
she'd hit. an Enforcer? She'd run straight into a steel suit with his stunner raised, pointing at her square in the face. Aww hell, at this distance it wouldn't just shock her, it would kill her!  
  
She flipped the Time-slow's switch. 


	6. An Awkward Arrival

(--Chapter 6: an awkward arrival--) (--Remora/Raziel--)  
  
Remora felt a jolt from somewhere behind her navel as everything she saw blurred and twisted into little vortex whorls, just enough to inspire extreme nausea in the hardest of stomachs. She might have hurled, but she couldn't remember. She struggled to get off the ground, cursing Sparks and the enforcers. Yelping at the jolt her surroundings took, she fell back to the ground.  
  
Things were getting really weird now. The room had stopped spinning, but instead of the deserted wasteland near the Enforcer bocks, she was in a field of snow, little green lights dancing in the air. Where the hell was she? Struggling to her feet, she looked around. A gigantic gate was over to her left, with really big locks on the door as if no one wanted anyone going in or out. Beyond that was what looked to be one of those really big castles. You know, like the ones they showed you in history class. Turning around, her jaw fell open.  
  
There were seven of them, like a too-many fingered ivory hand reaching for the sky. Gigantic white pillars, each with a different-colored band around head height. Looking down, she realized she was standing on what looked to be a slab of circular rock. It looked almost like a stage, with two walk- ons or whatever. A few seconds later, she was on the ground liquid- belching. Yes, that was one hell of a trip.  
  
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Raziel watched from behind the pillar of balance. He had thought the odd looking human was worshipping the pillars in some way, but quickly realized that she was merely emptying the contents of her stomach. The young girl had purple hair, and green strands decorated it here and there. stupid clothes for this weather, too. There were no sleeves to her tunic, though her leggings seemed to be more than capable of keeping heat in. where was she from? Nowhere near the mountain village, it seemed. Hair too short, clothes just. wrong, and someone would normally hide in the bushes to vomit.  
  
He hadn't seen her arrive, but was instead alerted to her presence with a bang that even the sarafan in their keep must have heard. Perhaps she would be some slight change in the boredom that had pervaded his existence for these long seven years. Wait, the female was straightening up, wiping her mouth. She was coming this way. Very well, he could have some fun then. Perhaps manipulation was just as much fun as Kain said. He'd have to try it. Raziel pressed his back against the balance and shifted planes.  
  
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Remora got as much of the foul taste out of her mouth as possible. Where were her headphones? Clipped to her jeans. Now to check out those pillars. She started walking towards them, looking left and right for any enforcers. Wow, the snow was soft here. She hoped everyone was alright. Had the explosion from Sparks's pack blown her all the way over here? She'd failed the decoy, and left DedInTheHed to die, she knew. She felt horrible, but it seemed there was nothing that could be done. Maybe she could somehow hike back. The explosion couldn't have blown her THAT far. Which way was she thrown, though?  
  
Walking past the giganto pillars, she felt a tap on her shoulder.  
  
"So just where are YOU from, little girl? Not from Nosgoth it seems."  
  
She spun around and was met with the most horrifying sight she'd seen since the killing fields. This close she wouldn't be able to run, and if she screamed it would probably kill her. She reached back and brought her stunner to the thing's face. 


End file.
